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Let me tell you a story about transparency in Canada. Or actually… the complete lack of it.

Because this week, we finally learned the name of one of the Iranian regime officials living here in Canada — Abbas Omidi — and we only learned it because journalists fought the government and won.

For months, the Immigration and Refugee Board had slapped a publication ban on the case. The public wasn’t even allowed to know the name of the man accused of being a senior official in Iran’s repressive regime while living comfortably here in Canada.

But Global News challenged the ban, and this week the board ruled that the public actually does have a right to know. Imagine that.

The decision said hiding his identity would have a “strong negative effect on the public’s interest in the open court process.” You think?

Especially when we’re talking about someone the government itself says served at a senior level in the Iranian regime — the same regime that crushes protests, executes dissidents, and terrorizes its own people.

The Canada Border Services Agency wants to deport Omidi because of that alleged role. But here’s where the story gets even more ridiculous. This isn’t some isolated case.

According to the government’s own immigration records, 28 suspected high-ranking Iranian regime officials have been identified in Canada.

Twenty-eight. And how many have actually been deported? One. One deportation. In four years.

And a CBSA bureaucrat claims it has to do with the lack of flights to Iran which has been a problem for about 90 seconds. Not the last four years.

And while the government insists it’s taking this seriously, most of the deportation hearings have been happening in secret. Not public. Secret. To protect the privacy of terror-linked applicants. 

Only five of these cases have actually been heard openly. Now, why would the government want to keep the identities of alleged Iranian regime officials hidden from the Canadian public?

Many Iranian-Canadians fled persecution by that very regime. They want to know if the people responsible for that persecution are now living next door. It's about personal safety. Not that anybody at Public Safety Canada cares.

Ottawa has been dragging its feet. Even before the current war involving Iran erupted at the end of February, immigration officials were already struggling to get these deportations through the system.

And this entire mess finally exploded into a political fight this week when Conservatives accused the government of hiding the identities of Iranian regime figures while letting them claim asylum here. And honestly, when you look at the numbers… it’s not hard to see why people are asking questions.

And bureaucrats at committee can’t seem to answer even basic questions about what’s going on.

But the one bright spot here is that journalists pushed back. There was no credible evidence that revealing Omidi’s identity would put him in danger. But hiding it from the public? That absolutely would damage public trust and put the Iranian diaspora in danger.

And frankly, after watching how this has been handled… that trust is already hanging by a thread. If not severed altogether. Because if Canada is serious about preventing senior officials of a brutal foreign regime from using this country as a safe haven, then the first step is pretty simple.

Stop hiding who they are. And get them out immediately.